(Boursier.com) — Rumors of orders forAirbus are increasing in recent days. The latest comes from South Korea where Korean Air Lines would be on the verge of purchasing around twenty A350 planes. The agreement could be announced as early as this week, even if it is not final and could still fall through depending on the outcome of the company’s Board of Directors meeting on March 21, say the sources from ‘Bloomberg’.
Korean Air is also considering adding more A321neo single-aisle aircraft to its fleet, one of the sources said. The carrier placed an additional 4.1 trillion won ($3.1 billion) order for 20 of the planes in October, bringing its total order to 50 units.
A Korean Air spokesperson said the carrier was unable to comment on a possible order at this time. An Airbus spokesperson indicated that the aircraft manufacturer does not comment on “discussions that we may or may not have with airlines.” Last November, Korean boss Walter Cho told the agency that the carrier was studying its options for an order for long-haul wide-body aircraft that would arrive soon. The deal would mark Korean Air’s first widebody purchase since 2019 and would be a victory for the European aircraft maker, as the Korean carrier has previously relied more on Boeing.
In addition, this order would come as Korean Air is preparing to buy its competitor Asiana. The Asian company is now only waiting for American regulatory approval to finalize the transaction. Korean Air does not operate an A350 but uses older generation 777s, while Asiana owns 15 A350s and has another 15 on order. An order for large Airbus jets would allow the merged group to reduce the number of aircraft types it operates in order to simplify its operations and reduce costs.
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Please note, our “Rumors” section aims to echo the information circulating in the trading rooms. These rumors cannot be verified, so they should be considered with caution.